Improvement in machines for sewing boots and shoes



2 sheets-sheet 1Q J. KEATS. Machin-e forSewing Boots and Shoes. No.198,120. i Patented Dec. 11,1877.

Ilm-NI 1- 2Sheets-Sheet 2. 1 J. KEATS. Machine for'SeWing Boots andShoes. No. 198,120. Patented Dec. 11,1877.

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UNITED@ STATES Parnu JOHN KEATS, OF WOOD GREEN, ENGLAND.

IMPROVEMENT lNi'MAOHlNEs yFOR SEWING BOOTS AND SHOES.v

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 198,120, dated Decemberll, 1877 5 application filed August 31, 1817.

To all 'whom t may concern: 1

Be it known that I, J ol-IN KEA'Ts, of Wood Green, in the county ofMiddlesex, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention consists in theV novel construction of a reciprocatingrotary shuttle and of a shuttle-holder for containing the same, wherebyprovision is afforded for keeping thel shuttle in proper relation withthe needle; also, in novel means of driving such a shuttle.

It also consists inthe combination of a reciprocating rotaryshuttle anda hooked needle, both arranged above the support on the upper surface ofwhich the material to be sewed is supported, and means arranged belowthe said support for supplying thread to the said needle; also, in thecombination of a loopopenerwith such needle and shuttle, and

' means of supplying thread to the needle.

It further consists in the novel construction ofa work-supporting post,in which is arranged awhirl for supplying thread to ahooked needle.

In'the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a side elevation of a sewing-machine embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is afront elevation of thesame. Fig. 3 is a front view of the needle-box, the needle, the shuttle,the loop-opener,

v shuttle and loop-opener, showing also'the position of the needle.

In the machine represented, the shuttle A, which is arrangedabovethework, is supported with its axis in a verticall position parallel withthe line of motion of the hooked needle C, in a stationary pendentbracket holder, B B', formed upon or secured to the head of the framingI) of the machine, behind the neesewing-m achine. Y cam, I', for workingthe needle-slide I, a cam,

dle-boX D'. Above the shuttle thus arranged,

and concentric with it, is a vertical spindle, E, which drives it, thesaid spindle being fittedV to suitable bearings in the framing, andfur-A nished at its upper end with a toothed pinion, F, which gears witha toothed sector, G', on

`the front end of a horizontal lever, G, which works on a fulcrum-pin,a, on the top of the framin g, and the rear end of which is furnishedwith a bowl working in a groove in a cam, A', on the upright `rotating@main shaft H of the This shaft I-I'also carries a J', for working theloop-opener J, a ca1n, K', for Working the feed-lever K, anda cam, L',

for working the thread-whirl L.

The general form of the shuttle A is that of a short cylinder, or of afrustum of a cone of very slight taper, having on one side a nose, b,projecting from' the body a little outside of the circle of itsperiphery, and a recess, c, inside of the said nose, which combines withthe nose to form a hook, and which is rounded off `at n, on the sideopposite the nose, to form ai heel.

It has a thread-cavity, g, to containa cop or bobbin, h, such cavitybeing preferably somewhat eccentric to thel outer periphery of the body,in order that it may be made as large as the shuttle will admit oi', andthereby .be capable of containing as large a cop or bob- 1bin aspossible. `tapered that its point is the highest part, or

The nose is sor formed and at least'as high as any other part oi theshuttle. In the upper side of the nose there is a groove, c, shown inFigs. 7 and 8, the outer face of which is concentric with the circularperiphery. above the. work, as represented, its thread passes outthrough an eye in its under side.

fork is made with a seat, d, in the lower part of its circular interiorfor the bottom edge of the shuttle to sit in. The lower face of the Whenthe shuttle is arranged upper fork is made with a rabbet, as shown inFigs. 6 and 7, or otherwise so shaped in `its transverse section as toenter the concentric groove ein the upper face of the shuttle, so thatthe shuttle, when in place, is supported in the lower fork, and is heldupright not only by fitting within the upper fork, but by the bearinge2, provided, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, on the outside of the fork, forthe outer concentric bearing-surface el of the. groove e, inside of theshuttle-nose, the bearing e2 on the outside of the fork helpingespecially to sus tain the shuttle against the lateral pull to which itis subject in spreading the loop of the needle-thread. The lower fork Bis made movable up and down, to provide for taking out and replacing theshuttle by slackening the screw-boltf, which attaches ittotheframing D.The shuttle-driver consists of a pair of vertical pins, z i, which arefree to slide through a carrier plate'or block. E2, which is fast on thelower end of the spindle E abovethe shuttle, and which are supported bya stationary cam, E, which is secured to the head of the frame of themachine, and through which the spindle E passes, the said cam having inits periphery a groove which forms a race for the upper ends of the saidpins t' i to travel in, while they have a rotary motion given to them inopposite directions alternately, as the spindle E receives such a motionthrough the pinion F, sector Glever G, and cam A. The lower ends ofthese driving-pins i z' are caused by the cam to project into holes orrecesses in the upper face of the shuttle, and to rise alternately outof contact with the shuttle, to permit the passage of the loop of theneedlethread under them. The movement thus given to the shuttle is alittle less than a complete revolution in each direction.

The' loop-opener J, by which the loop of the needle-thread is opened forthe entrance of the nose of the shuttle, and which retains the loopduring its passage over the shuttle, consists of a pointed instrument ofslightly-curved form, as shown in Figs. 3 and 8, with a notch, j, nearits point on that side which is farthest from the shuttle. Thisloop-opener, which has a reciprocating motion between the path of theneedle and the shuttle, is carried by one arm, J, of a horizontalrock-shaft, J4, which works in suitable bearings on one side of themachine-frame, and another arm, J 3, of which is furnished with a wrist,which enters the groove of the cam J1, by which the necessary motion isgiven to the loop-opener.

The combined operations of the shuttle, the loop-opener and the hookedneedle are as follows: When the needle, moving upward, draws up itsthread in the form of a loop from the whirl or thread-carrier L, andthrough the work, and during the latter portion of such upward movement,the loop-opener J enters the loop, but does not enter it far enough toexpand it wider than the needle-throat, and therefore does not strainlit. As the needle commences its downward movement, and thus relieves theloop of tension, the loop-opener continues advancing into the loop, andspreads it open, at the same time slightly rising within it to retainit, and pressing it slightly away from the needle, so that it may beeasily liberated from the hook thereof by the continued descent of thelatter. The loop is thus left upon the loop-opener in a condition andposition to be entered by the shuttle, which,

at the time of the transfer of the loop from the needle to theloop-opener, has been sta- -tionary at the end of its backward movement,with its point at the left-hand side of the vertical opening between theends of the forks of the shuttle-holder, as shown by Fig. 3. The shuttlethen commences its forward movement, and its nose passes into the loop,the back side of which then passes into the recess c. As the forwardmovement of the shuttle proceeds it carries round over it the back sideof the loop, which is thus passed more than halfway over it, while thefront side is retained by thenotcli j of the loop-opener. As the shuttleis completing its forward movement, the loop,hav ing passed more thanhalf way over it, becomes slack, and the loop-opener retires from it,and by the time the said movement is completed the loop is left on theheel u of the shuttle, which then remains stationary while the needlecompletes its downstroke, and makes suchportion of its return-stroke asis sufficient for it to draw up the new loop so far as to pull the loopfirst mentioned over the heel of the shuttle. The return or backwardmovement of the shuttle is almost. entirely made during the remainingportion of the ascent of the needle, being completed just as the needlecommences its next descent. During the whole operation of the passage ofthe shuttle through the loop the shuttle remains firm and solid, inpositive bearing contact with the holder, not having to be raisedtherefrom by the loop, or to permit the passage of the loop over oraround it, as the loop never passes between the exterior of the shuttleand the supporting-surfaces of the holder, that side of the loop whichis carried over the shuttle entering the hook of the shuttle, andpassing over the heel thereof, through the vertical opening left betweenthe points of the prongs of the forks B B of the holder; and hence waxedthread v may be used without liability of accumulation of wax on theshuttle-supporting surfaces.

By making the shuttle and its bearing in the forks B slightly conical,and arranging the smaller part of the shuttle downward, as representedin the drawings, the wear of the shuttle and its bearings is preventedfrom changing the proper relation between the shuttle and the needle,for if the shuttle should wear it will always maintain the same axial.position, and, its axis being parallel with the path of the needle, itsnose will always remain equally near the path of the needle.

The shuttle and its holder, thus constructed, may be employed above thework, or with the work between it and the work-supportin g Vdevice,whether such device be a post, as represented inthe drawing, a table, ora horn.

`It will be seen that I have representedv the shuttle, thus constructedand supported, in combina'tion with a work-supporting post, M,containingk a rotary whirl or thread-carrier, L, having an uprightvaxis, and, therefore, the axis of the' shuttle vis not only parallelwith the path of the needle, but also with the axisY of thethread-carrier or whirl.

The whirl or thread-carrier L rep-resented,'

through which the needle-thread is supplied, and by which the saidthread is laid into the hook of the needle, is made in the form of along spindle, which reaches up to near the top of the work-supportingpost M, and extends down through the whole depth or height of the post,and down through the bottom thereof. The said spindle has a bearing at min the upper part of the post M and abearing at m at the bottom thereof,and has on its lower part a pinion, k, which gears directly with atoothed sector, l, on one end of the horizontal lever L2, which receivesmotion on a fixed fulcrum, l', from the cam L" on the main shaft. Bythus extending the whirl downward through the post in spindle form, andputting the pinion k on the lower part of it, I am enabled to drive itdirectly by the sector without the intermediate gearing heretoforeemployed for driving the whirl. It is not necessary, although it may bepreferable, in order thusto dispense with the intermediate gearing, thatthe spindle should extend right through the bottom of the post, as thepinion k might be inside of the post, and there might be an opening inthe side or back of the post to permit the sector l to gear with thepinion within the post. This construction and method of driving thewhirl, by getting rid of gearing in the upper part of the post, enablesthe top of the post, which constitutes the bearing for the work, to bemade very small, so as to afford the greatest facility forthe easymanipulation of the work upon and around it. The top sur-V face of thepost must, of course, be long enough in the direction of the feed togive a proper length of support to the work in that direction; butin thetransverse direction it needs to be, for manyof the various operationsof boot and shoe making, only wide enough to contain the hole for thepassage of the needle and thread.

By rounding off the upper end of the spindle and forming a cavity in thepost between its head and the top of the whirl, as shown at n in Figs. 4and 5, the post may be so much tapered and thinned toward the top as toleave a sharp edge at the tip of its head, as shown in Fig. 5.

In thus reducing the upper part of the post I remove the metalaltogether from those opposite sides of the cavity n on the broadersides of the post, so as to form lateral openings o, as shown in Figs.3, 4, and 5, and leave an open bridge elevated above the whirl. The

lateral openings/1J of this bridge afford such freeplay for the threadbetween the whirl and the head or .tip of the post as could not beadorded if the post were equally contracted without such openings.

The feed-lever K, which is also the presser, is shown in Figs. 1, 5, and5* as constructedY with an angular recess,- frs, in its end. One face,z, of said recess being horizontal or nearly so, to constitute thepressing-surface, is to press upon the work over or above thework-supporting surface, and the other face, s,which is serrated,toothed, or roughened, being arranged at any angle to thepressing-surface, that it may presentitself at an angle to thework-supporting surface, and so act against one edge of the work ormaterial being sewed to make what may be termed a side feed, while thepressing-'surface presses upon the face. Thefeeder and presser, thusconstructed, also allow the material being sewed to be bent over oneedge of the post or other worksupporting surface, as shown in Fig. 5, inwhich o and p indicate two pieces of material which are being sewedtogether; and in that case the pressing-face 1^ holds down the materialupon the post, while the feeding-face s operates against the portion ofthe material which is bent over the side of the post. The pressing-facer may be arranged at asufflcient inclination as to hold and press thework. obliquely against the opposite side of the post to that on whichthe feeding-surface acts, and thereby permit the needleto pass throughthe work in a direction oblique to the general surface of the latter.

The lever K is represented as occupying a horizontal position, and inorder to enable it l to have a vertical movement to raise the presserfrom the work, and bring it down thereon, and a horizontal movement toproduce the feed, it has two fulcrums, viz: one consisting nof ahorizontal pin, w, Fig. 1, which is secured in the head of a verticalpin, t, which constitutes the other fulcrum, and which works in asuitable bearing, u, provided on the frame. The cam Kl has two faces,one to produce the vertical, and the other to produce the horizontal,motion, and the lever has applied to it two springs, viz: one, K2, toproduce the downward pressure, and another, K3, to produce itshorizontall return movement after feeding. It has also applied to it acam, K4, with a handle, K5, to lift it by hand to permit theintroductionand removal of the work to and from the machine.

I claim- 1. The combination of the reciprocating rotary shuttle, and aforked shuttle-holder within which the said shuttle works, provided witha bearing, e, outside of the fork, and acorresponding bearing-surface, eprovided inside of the shuttle-nose, substantially as and for thepurpose herein described.

2. The combination, with the reciprocating A rotary shuttle, of therotary spindle E, carrying-block E2,pins M, cam El, pinion F, toothedsector G, lever G, and cani A', substantially as and for the purposeherein set forth.

3. The combination of a reciprocating rota ry shuttle and a hookedneedle, both arranged above the support on the upper surface of Whichthe material to be seWed is placed, and mechanism for supplying thread'to the said needle arranged below the said support, substantially asherein described.

4. The combination ,of a reciprocating rotary shuttle and a hookedneedle,both arranged above the support on the upper side of Which thematerial to be seWed is supported, mechanism for supplying thread to thesaid needle below said support, and a loop opener for opening,spreading, and holding said loop, substantially'as herein described.

5. The combination of ahooked needle, mech- 'and leaving openings o utherein', Wherebythe said. headis made to present a narrowopen bridge,substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

JOHN KEATS.

Witnesses:

BENJAMIN W. HOFFMAN, FRED. HAYNES. v

